Fashion

Feeling 70's Porn Vibes at the Gypsy Sport NYFWM Show

As I moved past the curtain marked Gypsy Sport and entered the jungle of backstage prep, I narrowly avoided walking into a model with a face full of baby blue paint–it clashed dramatically with the grey skies that poured rain onto the street outside of the Skylight Clarkson North studio space. But then, as I took in the clothes for the first time, my immediate reaction was that I’d accidentally walked onto the set of a 1970s era porn set. When I brought up my take on the collection’s pornographic origins to Rio Uribe, the founder of the breakout NY-based brand (which shows their women’s collections with MADE Fashion Week), he conceded that that wasn’t the intent, but he definitely enjoyed the comparison. “For me, this collection was inspired by skin and skin tones,” he said. For a brand whose last runway show featured a diverse range of models flashing some ass and strutting down the runway, the influence of skin tones blended naturally with this season’s color palette.

As models posed for photos and lounged around in the Gypsy Sport’s usual mix of fabrics, all adorned with the iconic double baseball cap logo, I noticed that the usually overstated jewelry by their collaborator Chris Habana had shifted for this collection. When I asked Uribe about it, he explained that the jewelry—and the clothes—followed a more streamlined approach. “We shrunk it down to tiny studs and tiny hoops,” he added. before detailing one new addition that brought some old-school Western vibes: bolo ties. The accessory was a definitive nod to 70s Westerns, and the show made me yearn for a bolo tie for the first time in my life.

Equal parts intense and congratulatory, the mood was a perfect blend for a brand that’s been on an unstoppable rise since their last collection. Fresh off a three-way tie for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, Uribe was riding a wave of momentum that was as apparent backstage as it was in the presentation space. “Things have changed. I’ve been able to make twice as many samples as usual,” he explained. “It gets so expensive as a young designer, so they definitely helped us out with that.” The increased pressure to do two shows—one for men’s and one for women’s fashion week—clearly didn’t phase him. If anything, he embraced it.

As we moved into the presentation space, a line began to form outside for the crowd eager to check out the latest from the up-and-coming label. As a swarm of cameras took in every detail in the fabrics, Whoopi Goldberg suddenly appeared. As she hugged models and reached out to touch one particularly phenomenal fur vest, an unmistakable sense of happiness swept through the space. We couldn’t be more excited for their next show.